Special treatment for Galt? Not so, mayor insists

Cambridge City Hall

CAMBRIDGE — There is no giant funnel. Galt does not get fed all the City of Cambridge’s big-project millions while neglected sisters Preston and Hespeler arm-wrestle over loose change that hits the floor.

“I want to put that to bed,” Craig said from home Easter Monday as he shared his couch with his 12-year-old black lab Buddy.

“We’re trying to be fair across the city.”

Yes, a five-year look at spending within the city, commissioned by the mayor, shows that Galt got the most capital projects in that span, nearly $55-million worth.

Hespeler got about $40-million while Preston got about $29-million.

But there’s another way to look at it as the city celebrates 40 years of amalgamation.

On a per-capita basis, from 2008 to 2012, the story is much different.

Hespeler sacks the most coin, pulling $1,558 per person north over the 401 wall.

Preston is next at $1,388 per resident.

Galt, pity the poor site of Old City Hall, gets just $693.

How can that be? City funding helped Galt land the new $14-million Drayton Entertainment theatre and $27-million University of Waterloo School of Architecture.

A $6-million renovation of the historic Galt Post Office building, purchased for nearly $1-million, also looms.

“There’s a difference between opportunities and needs,” Craig said. “You get an opportunity, and they show up sometimes in the Galt area with the old post office or the school of architecture. And it gets a lot of public exposure.”

Other projects, like recent major fixes at W.G. Johnson Centre and Hespeler Arena, proceed in relative silence. Even $3 million for the new Langs Farm Community Health Centre in Preston doesn’t pack the same public-relations wallop as Mary Poppins.

“We put $6 million into Drayton and it got some controversy from people,” Craig said.

“But no one said a word about the fact we put $3 million into a new pool in Hespeler and another two to three million in the arena — virtually the equivalent amount in refurbishing the arena and the pool.”

Oddly, it was a complaint from a Galt resident about Galt getting too much city cash that prompted the mayor to ask for the five-year figures.

“If you were to take a snapshot of 10 years, you might have different results,” Craig said.

“We try our very best to take care of all the concerns within all the former communities.”

Projects and spending that benefits the entire city, and not just one area, accounted for about $73 million over the five-year survey, or $578 per person.

That spending including items like computers, fire trucks and sewer repairs that cross boundaries of Cambridge’s three main areas.